Other self
by DarKazeura
Summary: Both were chosen, both were reluctant, and both wanted to get away from their destiny's... but the PTB have other ideas. Different realities, same person different stories. Polar opposites...closer than blood. Everything will change.


I own nothing but the plot.

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Harry followed his friends into the great hall reluctantly, he could already hear the shouting matches going on between the light sides army, and he was stressed out enough without listening to the adults fighting over his destiny.

The prophecy replayed over and over in his mind, but one part stood out; Voldemort had marked him as his equal. The thing was, he did not have any special powers. Sure, he was pretty powerful for his age, but how was he to defeat the most feared dark lord of all time? He was only eighteen bloody years old! That's not to say he didn't want to fight at all, he would much prefer to be fighting on the front lines, but he didn't want the special treatment.

The war was going full force now, but the forces of light were losing. The Ministry was the first to fall, then Diagon Alley, and then Hogsmead; Hogwarts was all that was left.

He looked around the Hall, it was filled with families... most of which were suffering from heavy losses, and they were all looking to him as their last hope. Of course, none of them would talk to him, but they were fine with talking about him, loudly.

"Albus, you must see reason!"

"The boy's our only chance!"

"He's too young to fight!"

"But he's the bloody Chosen One! He has to fight!"

Harry sighed, he wished the prophecy never existed. He walked towards Dumbledore, "Professor, you have to let me fight... I'm the only one who can defeat him!"

Before Albus could once again deny Harry his right to fight, there was a flash of light and a short, strangely dressed man wearing a bowler hat appeared. Nearly everyone in the great hall was on their feet instantly with their wands pointed in his direction. The man winced and put his hands up in a show of innocence. He turned towards Harry and spoke with a strange accent, "Hey kid, I'm here to offer you a once in a lifetime chance." He glanced around awkwardly, "I was hoping you would be alone when I showed up..." He shrugged indifferently, "No matter. Back to what I was saying. Do you want to defeat Voldemort? Or do you want to give the job to... well, yourself?"

Harry blinked in confusion, "Give the job to...myself? How would I do that?"

The man smirked, "A different you. One whom I think would be quite happy to make the switch."

"How do I know you're telling the truth, and what do you mean by switch?"

"Until he is defeated you would switch places with the other you." He smirked, "And I'm a messenger from the Powers That Be, why would I need to lie?"

Hermione gasped, she had read about the Powers That Be, the were rumored to only deal with what were known as the Champions of Light... that meant Harry was a Champion!"

Harry nodded. He had heard of the Powers that Be. "If we're going to do this, can you at least tell me your name?"

"Harry, you can't even be thinking about this!" Molly Weasley shrieked.

But he was. He would love to get out of this place... this prison. He had not been allowed to leave Hogwarts since the night his godfather had been killed, Dumbledore had deemed it too unsafe...that was three years ago.

"Harry. You can not go, it is too dangerous." Dumbledore exclaimed.

The man frowned at headmaster, "You do not get a say in the matter Albus. You know the rules." He nodded at Harry, "Let's go kid, I'm sure your dying to meet yourself." And with another flash of light the man and Harry were gone, the mans last words echoing in the silent hall, "_And by the way, the name's Whistler."_

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Buffy watched her friends sadly, they were hurt and it was all her fault, and Angel was dead,_ "oh god." _she brought her hand up to her mouth to try and stifle the sound of her crying. She couldn't do this anymore, so with one last lingering look at her friends she climbed aboard the bus, it wasn't until she saw the 'Now Leaving Sunnydale' sign that she broke down completely.

An hour and a half later she got off the bus and headed towards the cheapest hotel she could find. She would need to go looking for a job tomorrow, but luckily it wouldn't be hard to find work in LA.

Just as she was about to lay down on the moth eaten mattress there was a flash of light and two people appeared in the room, one of which she had hoped to never see again...ever. "Whistler. What the hell are you doing here?!"

"Hey Kid--"

"Did you know? Did you know that it was going to be Angel that I had to--" Buffy glared and wiped at her eyes angrily, "Did. You. Know?!"

"No. None of this was foreseen, he was the one that was supposed to save the world, not the one who was supposed to attempt it's destruction." Whistler sighed sadly, the petite blond slayer looked defeated.

Buffy frowned, "This is all because I lived when I should have died isn't it? It's my fault." she didn't wait for him to answer and turned to look at the other person in the room, he was about a foot taller than her, with dark hair and brilliant green eyes that looked very familiar. She saw the same eyes every time she looked in the mirror. "Huh. Do I know you?"

Whistler nodded. "Of course you know each other. You _are_ each other."

The boy smiled slightly, "My name's Harry. Harry Potter."

Buffy blinked, "Huh." she looked between the two of them. "Buffy Summers." she looked at Harry, "Do you have any idea what he means by us being each other? Cuz' I'm drawing a blank."

"Harry is you from a different reality. If you were to do a blood test on the two of you, your results would be identical"

Buffy smiled faintly, "How old are you?"

"Eighteen. I'm guessing it's the same for you?"

Buffy shook her head, "actually, no. I'm seventeen."

Whistler looked between the two of them, "I'll give you time to meet yourselves later."

Harry explained the Voldemort situation to Buffy, and she in turn explained about the Hellmouth and random baddies that went with it. "So do you want to do the switch?"

Buffy frowned in thought, "So I'd go to your reality, kill your big bad, and then come back here?" seeing his nod she continued, "So while I'm doing this, you'll go to Sunnyhell and use your magic wand to keep the vampires at bay?"

Harry nodded. "I think that's pretty much it... but Voldemort wont be easy to kill." He replied, slightly confused about how flippant she was being about going after the most feared Dark Lord in recent history.

"No big. If he wasn't hard to beat he wouldn't be a big bad." Buffy shrugged. "When do I leave?"

"You mean you'll do it?" Harry asked in shock, he hadn't expected her to agree.

"Yeah. I'll do it. I've got nothing left to lose." she looked down sadly before meeting Harry's eyes. "Can you tell my friends..." she paused. "Can you tell them I'm sorry?"

Harry nodded. "Can you do the same for mine? I didn't even say goodbye... they're going to be furious..."

"One more thing before I go..." Buffy reached into her bag and pulled out a small notebook and a pen. She quickly jotted down a note. "When you get to Sunnydale, go to 1630 Revello drive and give this to my mother."

The balance demon placed a hand on the blonds shoulder, "We got to go Slayer. You ready?"

Buffy nodded at Whistler. "Anywhere is better than here." She gave Harry the money she had brought with her, "Good luck Harry."

"You too." Harry took an impulsive step forward and gave the smaller girl a hug, "Be safe Buffy."

"Bye Harry." She allowed Whistler to grab her arm and transport her away.

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The great hall erupted into pandemonium as soon as Harry and Whistler disappeared. The adults ushered all of the teens out of the room and back to their common rooms.

"I can't believe Harry abandoned us..." Ron frowned, "He just left us to die!"

"But theres another Harry coming isn't there?" Neville asked.

"Supposedly." Ginny whispered. She felt betrayed, her boyfriend had just _left_.

"He'll be back." Luna replied dreamily.

Hermione nodded. "Luna's right. Harry will be back... and until then, we'll deal with his replacement."

Dumbledore sat at the head table and looked at the spot Harry had been standing, He had failed to keep him safe. It was over. Before his thoughts could get too depressing another figure appeared in the great hall with a flash. Instantly everyone had their wands pointed at... her?

"Who are you?" The girl was very petite and fragile looking, she had light blond hair and very familiar brilliant green eyes.

"I'm Buffy, the vampire slayer." her tired eyes met his and he could see the power hidden in them. "You all would probably know me better by my other title." She paused to make sure she had everyones attention. "I'm known as the Chosen One."

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A/N: Just a little plot bunny that came to me in the middle of the night, I'm not sure yet if this will stay as a one shot or become something more. Constructive criticism is more than welcome./


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